Abstract The Pannonian basin system is an integrap part of the Alpine mountain belts of east-central Europe. It is completely encircled by the Carpathian Mountains to the north and east, the Dinaric Alps to the south, and the Southern and Eastern Alps to the west. In 1912, Kober defined the Pannonian basin as one of the type “Zwischengebirge,” a relatively un-deformed region characterized by block faulting and situated between externally vergent thrust belts. More recent studies using subsurface data have shown that the Pannonian area was extensively deformed by Mesozoic thrusting and subsequently disrupted by a complex system of Cenozoic normal and wrench faults. Thus, the Pannonian “massif” has undergone several types of deformation, which are partly hidden by a thick sequence of sedimentary rocks of Neogene-Quaternary age. The Pannonian basin is actually a system of small, deep basins separated by relatively shallow basement blocks. The Neogene-Quaternary sedimentary rocks exceed 7 km in thickness in some areas, and the basin system (including the Transylvanian basin) is about 400 km from north to south and 800 km from east to west. It is currently interpreted by most workers as a Mediterranean back arc extensional basin of the middle Miocene age. The Carpathians, Eastern Alps, and Dinarides, which surround the Pannonian basin, are the result of Mesozoic and Cenozoic continental collision between Europe and several continental fragments to the south, including Africa. Thrusting was direted outward from the present Pannonian basin toward the European platform and the Adriatic region. In all the orogenic belts, the interior parts of the thrust belts were deformed in Mesozoic time, while the outer parts were deformed in Tertiary time. The volume presents 26 papers and eight regional maps resulting from a joint five-day symposium held in Veszprem, Hungary, in 1982 entitled “Evolution of Extensional Basins within Regions of Compression with Emphasis on the Intra-Carpathian Region.” The symposium was sponsored jointly by the Hungarian Oil and Gas Trust, the Hungarian Geological Survey, and the U.S. National Science Foundation.

The San Juan Basin of northwest New Mexico and southwest Colorado contains several Upper Cretaceous coal-bearing formations. The coals in these formations were deposited in environments associated with repeated transgressions and regressions of the Western Interior seaway in Late Cretaceous time. A detailed subsurface and surface study of the coal beds in one of these units, the Fruitland Formation, formed the basis for a coal-depositional model (Fassett and Hinds, 1971). This model basically shows that the thickest Fruitland coals formed landward of thickly stacked sandstone beds of the regressive-marine Pictured Cliffs Sandstone. Transferability of the Fruitland coal model was tested by comparing it to another San Juan Basin coal-bearing rock unit, the lower Menefee Formation. Lower Menefee coal deposits were formed in association with the Point Lookout Sandstone, an older regressive-marine unit. The purpose of this comparison was to see if thick lower Menefee coal beds were also concentrated adjacent to thick vertical shoreface-sandstone buildups. This comparison showed that even though thick sandstone buildups were found in the Point Lookout, no thick coal beds were found in the lower Menefee Formation adjacent to them. This test suggests that certain coal depositional models may have limited value as predictive tools and must be used with caution by coal explorationists. Even more importantly, potential coal-bearing areas should never be written off simply because they do not fit a previously described model.

The Devonian Catskill Formation has been divided into four magnafacies (Mf) which have been correlated throughout Pennsylvania. Lithologies in 28 sections and wells were assigned to 10 facies on the basis of grain size, color, bed forms, fossils, and other sedimentary features. Repeating patterns of facies were used to identify magnafacies. Mf-A, the basal magnafacies, is composed dominantly of interbedded marine and non-marine shale and fine sandstone and is inferred to have been deposited mainly in a mud-rich tidal-flat environment. Mf-B is dominated by thick red shales accompanied by thin, fine-grained sandstones and is interpreted as a low-energy fluvial deposit on an inactive arid coastal plain. Mf-B is interrupted occasionally by thin, transgressive sandstones of tidal origin. Mf-C is composed of thick sandstones deposited by braided rivers and localized in three major northwest-trending zones of sediment input. Mf-D is composed of thick, fining-upward cycles with sub-equal amounts of sandstone and red shale. It is inferred to have been deposited by meandering rivers and is thickest in the same areas that Mf-C is thick. Mf-A and Mf-B are richer in sand near the sediment-input centers. In most sections, the Mf are present in the order A, B, C, and D upward, with C missing in many areas and more complex relations in extreme northeastern Pennsylvania. All Mf tend to thin northwestward. This pattern of distribution presumably results from northwestward progradation of the fluvial environment. Numerous small non-economic Cu-U occurrences are concentrated in areas of thick, shale-rich Mf-B lying between the major sediment-input areas. Most are closely associated with marine transgressions. A few occurrences are in the upper part of Mf-A and in Mf-D, but none is in Mf-C. Most of the Cu-U occurrences are localized by small accumulations of plant trash in shallow fluvial or tidal channels. In contrast, Wyoming-type, roll-front uranium occurrences are localized near Jim Thorpe in large channel sandstones of thick Mf-D in the sediment-input areas. The Cu and U occurrences appear to have formed during diagenesis by migration of metalliferous pore fluids.